Pre-molded box toe for boot



March 24, 1959 s, JUSTIN JR I 2,878,597

PRE-MOLDED BOX TOE FOR BOOT Filed May 10, 1957' FIG.- 6

JOHN .S. JUST IN, JR

I JNVENTOR.

20 A T TORN E V United States Patent PRE-MOLDED BOX TOE FOR BOOT John S. Justin, In, Fort Worth, Tex.

Application May 10, 1957, Serial No. 658,326

2 Claims. (Cl. 36-77) This invention relates generally to the art of boot and shoe making and is concerned more particularly with that type of product known as the cowboy boo The primary object of this invention is to provide a separate molded plastic box toe for incorporation in a cowboy boot to provide a very pointed toe therefor.

Another object is to provide a separate piece box toe which may be employed to import a narrow pointed toe to the boot without the customary hand labor.

A still further object is to provide a box toe which will permit a single wooden last to be used to produce several shapes of toes.

And another object is to provide a plastic box toe for boot manufacture which includes a very rigid point to provide a narrow point boot and yet includes a flexible edge to permit folding of the edge during the fabrication of the shoe.

An additional object is to provide a separate piece box toe for insertion in and sewing to the adjacent boot parts.

A further object is to provide a molded box toe which is tapered toward its rear edge and thus avoid the appearance of a transverse ridge across the vamp.

These and other objects and advantages will be apparent from an examination of the following specification and drawing in which:

Figure 1 represents a side elevational view of the plastic pointed box toe of this invention.

Figure 2 is a top plan view of the device of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a front end view of the box toe of Figures 1 and 2.

Figure 4 is a fragmentary bottom view of a completed boot employing the box toe of this invention.

Figure 5 is a top plan view of a complete cowboy boot employing the special molded plastic box toe of this invention.

Fig. 6 is an exploded view of boot parts and a boot last.

Figure 7 is a cross sectional view of the completed boot and integral box toe.

Referring now more particularly to the characters of reference on the drawing, it will be observed that the pointed box toe of this invention, indicated generally at 2, is a single integral plastic material piece, such as nylon or other suitable synthetic resin, which is molded into the shape and construction shown in Figures 1-3. This toe 2 includes depending fiaps 3 which are thin and fiat from their bottom edge 4 up to a mold line 5 whereat they are integrally joined to a relatively gradually increasing radius cone shaped top 6 which has the same cross section as the flaps but is inherently more rigid due to its shape. The top 6 is tapered toward its rear edge so as to avoid a ridge across the toe of the com pleted boot. The forward ends 7 of flaps 3 are bevelled at 8 to include an integrally cast solid tip 9 which is also the vortex of the cone top 6. The thickness. of the flap wall 7 is such that it will permit the flap 3 to be folded under as will be further described hereinafter.

Patented Mar. 24, 1959 that method known as the Goodyear welt process. In I this process a leather shoe upper is constructed and placed in overlapping relation on a Wooden shoe last; a leather and canvas insole is temporarily tacked against the bottom of the last, and the outer edge of the upper is folded under and attached to the bottom of the insole as a preliminary step to attaching the welt strip to which the outsole is then attached. By following this basic process and employing the box toe 2, a destinctive, very pointed toe, cowboy boot may be constructed by machine methods in lieu of the formerly required hand made construction required on narrow toe boots. In Figure 4 the details by which the toe 2 is imbedded in the boot 11 may be observed; in this bottom view, the sole 12 is cut back to show the plastic box toe 2 placed between and sewed at 13 to both the outer vamp 14 and the vamp lining 15. In Figure 6, the steps of: A, placing the boot upper 16 including the sewed in plastic box toe 2 over the wooden last 17; B temporarily tacking the insole 18 to the bottom of last 17; C, folding in the lower edge 16A of upper 16 and the bottom edge 4 of toe 2 over the insole and last; D, sewing the welt 19 to the thus far completed boot; and then B, sewing on the outsole 20. When completed, the cowboy boot 11 will look substantially as shown in Figures 5 and 7 and the plastic toe 2 Will be permanently installed at the forward end to provide the desired long narrow and very pointed toe 21 with a sharp tip 22 which will retain its shape throughout the life of the boot.

One of the advantages of employing the separate piece molded box toe 2 in the process just described is that no special last 17 is required, since it may actually have a blunt forward edge 23 even though it is used to produce a sharp pointed toe boot. Dilferent shapes and sizes of toe 2 may be used with the same last .17 to form boots of varying appearances.

The particular pointed tip 9 of the toe 2 shown in Figures 1-3 is pyramidical in shape below the mold line 5 and is conical in shape above this line so that upon installation in boot 11 a very distinctive and structurally sound boot tip 22 is provided.

The invention is not limited to the exemplary construction herein shown and described but may be made in various Ways within the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A box toe for insertion into a boot during manufacture, comprising: a thin plastic shell having a conical shape top portion terminating in a point and depending flexible flaps tangent to said top and also tapering toward said point, a forwardly extending solid tip including said point and partly included in said top portion and partly included in said flaps, that part of said tip in the top portion being conical in shape and that part of said tip attaching said flaps being pyramidical in shape, whereby said flaps may be folded toward each other at a point below said tip to permit attachment of said toe to said boot by sewing vertically through said flaps and into said boot.

2. A box toe for insertion into a boot during manufacture, comprising: a thin plastic shell having a conical shaped top terminating in an extending solid tip at its forward end, flexible flaps tangentially and integrally attached to said top portion and extending downward therefrom, the rear edge of both said top and flaps terminating in a plane which is inclined relative to the altitude of said conical top, said solid tip including the upper forward ends of said flaps but terminating a distance above the bottom edge of said flaps to provide a rectangular opening near the forward end of said box toe to permit 3 4 the folding under of said flaps to facilitate their inser- 446,146 Hansen Feb. 10, 1891 tion into a boot during manufacture. 564,966 Brewer Aug. 4, 1896 1,954,677 McMurray Apr. 10, 1934 ReferencesCited in the 1116 Of thlS patent 2 450 Kamborian Oct. 5 194 UNITED STATES PATENTS 5 2,461,226 Meltzer Feb. 8, 1949 241,392 Sprague May 24 1331 2,740,209 Shultz Apr. 3, 1956 

